Mad World
by Captain Monster Masher
Summary: With Sam & Castiel gone, Dean turns to alcohol as his behavior becomes self-destructive, especially once his sanity grows increasingly questionable.


_This story is the prequel to "Adventures of Ben Braden and Dean Winchester, Hunters Extraordinaire", which you don't have to have read (or ever read) to understand this. Prequels are awesome like that.  
>This could be considered an AU or, possibly something to come. Either way. I don't think Dean's quite cured in the real show, so you never know what could happen.<br>Disclaimer: This story is not intended to be happy. Do not expect a happy ending. Trigger warnings apply for self harm/self-destructive behavior, suicidal behavior/actions and depression.  
>If there's anyone left<em> _to read after that little disclaimer, I hope you enjoy!_

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><p>"You're dead, you bitch!"<p>

A dark haired, wide eyed young woman cautiously crept around me to cower behind Crowley.

Onyx. My right hand woman. Out of all the minions I'd gathered to my side, she was my most trusted comrade in my crusade for the throne of Hell.

And she led me right into a trap.

Demons. They're evil. They're violent, arrogant and a bunch of worthless, sniveling cowards. Their loyalty is, at best, an illusion. They follow whatever leader scares them the most and will switch teams the instant they find someone else more intimidating.

Somehow, Onyx found Crowley more frightening than me.

"I will torture you to the brink of death for a thousand years before I let you die!" I screamed at her from the devil's trap I had unknowingly walked right into.

It had taken Onyx months to come up with Crowley's location. Between that and the guise of loyalty, I had no reason to believe I was being led to my demise in that spacious, dark, abandoned factory. It was a real surprise when my army and I were greeted by Crowley and his. Being trapped by another demon wasn't exactly expected, either.

"Devil's traps aren't quite as fun as they used to be, are they?" Crowley spoke with a smug smile.

"I knew I should have tracked you down myself," I growled, clenching my jaw as a blind rage flashed hot in my eyes.

"I'm surprised you didn't," Crowley admitted. "You were a hunter once. You know better than to trust a demon. It was almost as if you didn't really want to overthrow little old me."

I did want to overthrow him. I wanted that throne. But I was having too much fun to be bothered with priorities. The way I saw it, I would find him and kill him, one way or another. I wasn't just Dean Winchester. I was demon Dean Winchester. If anyone could find someone without really trying, it was the demon version of me.

But between all the fun and the brazen confidence, I had forgotten exactly how sly Crowley was.

"Oh, I'm serious," I spoke brashly. "And once I claim that throne - and I will - you'll receive the same fate as the little slut hiding behind you."

"That would be impressive," Crowley said. "Considering the situation you've unwittingly wandered into."

"You think this little demon trap of yours is gonna hold me forever?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes at him.

"I didn't build it to hold you for the rest of eternity," he replied. He held out his right hand to receive an ancient looking parchment from one of his minions. "This should only take a moment."

"Gonna read me a bedtime story?" I fearlessly asked.

"I'm going to remove that stain from your arm," he replied with a complacent smile.

My confidence wavered for a moment and my face fell.

"That's impossible," I challenged.

"Well, I guess we're about to find out just how impossible it really is."

A wave of fear washed over me. For the first time since I had become a demon, I was genuinely scared.

"Let me out of here!" I yelled, vainly attempting to flee the trap.

"I will," he insisted. "Once we're done here, you'll be free to leave." Pause. "That is, if it doesn't kill you."

I turned to the demons - _MY_ demons - who stood behind me.

"Don't just stand there," I barked. "Get me the hell out of here!"

"I wouldn't," Crowley warned my troops, pulling a revolver from the inner pocket of his black suit jacket. He pulled the hammer back, took aim and fired a single shot. The bullet struck the chest of one of the demons standing behind me. An orange light flickered within him as a look of agonizing shock crept over his face before the meat suit collapsed to the hard, cold floor.

"Bullets made from angel blades," Crowley informed us. "There's enough to go around, in case anyone was wondering."

A young blonde woman ceremoniously carried a small alter covered in a black cloth. A middle aged brunette woman followed with a silver chalice while a thirty-something year old redheaded woman brought a basket filled will herbs and candles and other miscellaneous witchy ingredients.

"Before we begin," Crowley spoke as the women - possibly witches, I don't remember - organized their station. "Does anyone want to switch teams?"

The demons in my army exchanged hesitant, uncertain glances with each other.

"Come on," the king encouraged as the women began blending ingredients in the chalice from their spot just outside the devil's trap. "Tell you what. You repent now, say you've made a terrible mistake, and I'll spare your worthless little lives. Stay on Dean's team? You'll be dead before the week's end."

This put them between a rock and a hard place. There was no doubt Crowley would find them and kill them. But there was also no question as to what I would do to them if his attempt of stripping me of Cain's mark and demonism failed.

Slowly, with great trepidation, my army began to dissipate before my very eyes until only three demons remained.

"Good choice," Crowley commended the traitors.

"I will slaughter each and every one of you when I get out of here!" I threatened.

"Let's get on with it, ladies," Crowley said, ignoring my last comment. "This whole 'I'll kill you all' bit is getting boring."

Panic began to set in. What if he was right? What if he really could erase the mark? I couldn't loose it now. I was having too much fun. I didn't want to go back to that sad sack of self-hating mortal meat.

The frenzied thoughts were short lived as the effects of the incantation were almost instantaneous. Three short words of Latin and I was on my knees. A sharp, howling scream echoed through my brain. My blood felt like it was on fire, and my stomach felt as though a knife were being twisted inside of me.

I gagged. My body writhed in a battle with itself, my stomach desperate to send something up and my throat determined to keep it all down. When my stomach at last won, I threw up a black, sulfury tasting liquid that felt like razor blades as it came up.

_Oh, god_, I thought as my nose began to bleed._ I'm dying. I'm gonna die..._

The redheaded woman grabbed a hold of my right arm, gripping me tightly with her left hand. With her right, she slathered a thick red paste over the Mark of Cain, which she then covered with a smooth gray stone.

As the incantation grew in intensity, so did the pain. It felt like every bone in my body was breaking. Like my organs were being squeezed. The pressure in my head became so severe I thought my eyes might pop out of their sockets.

A reddish-orange flash emitted from my arm and everything went silent. The agony subsided into a dull headache and a bad taste in my mouth. The demons stared unblinkingly. Crowley held his breath.

"Did it work?" he questioned impatiently.

The redhead carefully overturned the stone, revealing the mark had made its way from my flesh to the rock. She held it up for all to see before placing it in the king's hand. He grinned triumphantly at it, almost giddy at what he had accomplished.

The demons who had managed to remain loyal smoked out of the bodies they had been possessing, hoping to flee as far away as possible before Crowley could notice.

"Get rid of this," he spoke to one of his demon minions, passing the stone off.

"What should I do with it?" the demon questioned.

"I don't know," Crowley rolled his eyes. "Drop it into a volcano. Toss it into the sun. Feed it to the bloody Loch Ness monster. Use your imagination and get rid of it. Moron."

As I listened, my stomach began to drop and my heart began to pound. Like something was wrong. Not with me, not physically. Something else I couldn't quite focus my hazy mind on.

"What about the Winchester?" another demon questioned the king. "What should we do with him?"

"Leave him," Crowley casually replied.

"Leave him?" Onyx echoed with a panicky tone. "_Leave him!?_ You heard him! He's going to kill me!"

"No," Crowley spoke confidently. "He won't care. Especially not after he remembers what he did to Sam."

Sammy. That's what was missing. My brother wasn't here. Where was he...?

_Oh my god... Oh... No. No._

"No..." I whispered.

Sammy wasn't here, because Sammy was dead.

And his blood was on my hands.

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><p><em>As you see, this begins with the end of demon!Dean. Which is why this might be considered an AU. You never know, though. Dean could go dark side again. I'm personally suspicious of how easily he became "cured".<em>

_[Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Supernatural, the WB/CW or Kripke Enterprises in any way, shape or form. I am just a fan who writes for fun and am not profiting from this. Blah blah blah.]_


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